Inside his sealed cave abode.
Qin Sang sat cross-legged on the ice bed. Turning his inner vision inward, he examined himself thoroughly. The injuries he had suffered at Qiuhong Market had essentially healed, leaving no lingering effects on his cultivation.
His sea of qi remained the same.
He had long known that a damaged foundation had no hope of healing on its own; his only hope lay in the Xuanwen Heyun Pill to resolve this hidden peril.
He also wondered whether the Nine Splendors Azure Frost Grass could heal Yunyouzi's soul.
Awakening from his meditation, Qin Sang tilted his head back and stared at the rough stone ceiling above. After pondering absentmindedly for a while, he reached into his robe and pulled out Luo Xingnan's mustard seed bag.
Of Ge Yuan's relics, aside from the Blue Dew Epiphyllum, the two finest magic tools had been given to Shangguan Lifeng, while the remaining odds and ends were not worth much.
The lion's share was here with Luo Xingnan.
First and foremost was the silver knife talisman treasure.
Looking at the cracks across the talisman treasure, Qin Sang picked it up gingerly and sensed the remaining power within.
Luo Xingnan had been exceedingly decisive, staking everything on a desperate final struggle and driving the talisman treasure with all his might, which had drained its power severely.
If the fighting was not too fierce, using it sparingly might allow two more uses. But if the opponent was too strong and the battle ground to a stalemate, it would likely be ruined after just one.
With his jade ruyi destroyed, obtaining this silver knife talisman treasure—heavily damaged though it was—served as some compensation for his loss. It was better than nothing.
By comparison, the item Qin Sang found most useful was actually the Yin-Yang Compass.
Without question, the Yin-Yang Compass was a top-grade magic tool, but its function was highly unique. Although the compass's yin-yang magnetic light offered a degree of protection, it was not merely an instrument meant for killing or defense.
The compass was crafted from an extraordinary lodestone. As the yin-yang magnetic light shifted, alternating forces of attraction and repulsion were produced. The black magnetic light repelled, while the white magnetic light attracted, both tremendously powerful—one needed only look at Ge Yuan's fate to know.
The yin-yang magnetic light answered the user's intent and could be manipulated at will, offering endless utility.
In a chaotic battlefield especially, it could disrupt an enemy's footing at any moment, achieving unexpected results.
Naturally, Qin Sang would not pass up such a magic tool. After a brief period of refining, he claimed the Yin-Yang Compass for his own, then flicked his finger to knock a loose stone from the rock wall.
As the light of the Yin-Yang Compass alternated, the stone tumbled and soared through the air. Clumsy at first, his control grew steadily more adept.
After toying with it for a while, Qin Sang drew the Yin-Yang Compass into his body to constantly nurture it.
Apart from that, Luo Xingnan had a few other magic tools, none of which matched the Yin-Yang Compass. The jade bident was nowhere to be found, likely destroyed when he was besieged by the hook serpents. Still, each of the other tools had its own distinct utility. Qin Sang, currently lacking in magic tools, categorized and stored them away.
Luo Xingnan possessed surprisingly few spirit stones—just over a thousand low-grade spirit stones. He was a rogue cultivator, after all, and the bulk of his wealth had gone into purchasing magic tools, medicinal pills, and talismans to enhance his strength.
Barring a miraculous encounter and an immense windfall, it was simply impossible to accumulate savings.
Finally, Qin Sang brought out two jade boxes and arranged them before him.
One held the Blood-Dripping Ghost Mushroom, and the other contained the Blue Dew Epiphyllum.
Qin Sang had already consulted Yunyouzi and knew the effects of these two spirit herbs.
Although both were thousand-year spirit herbs, in terms of sheer value, the Blood-Dripping Ghost Mushroom certainly surpassed the Blue Dew Epiphyllum. For Ge Yuan, however, the Blue Dew Epiphyllum was a priceless treasure he would never have traded away.
This was because the Blue Dew Epiphyllum, combined with several other herbs, could be concocted into an elixir known as the Dilu Pill. The other herbs required were by no means cheap either, but unlike the Blue Dew Epiphyllum, they were not nearly as scarce; with patient searching, they could always be found.
If a cultivator practicing a wood-element method consumed this pill, they could harness its medicinal power to cleanse and refine their spiritual power, which aided in breaching bottlenecks.
This effect was most pronounced during the Foundation Establishment stage. While the Dilu Pill was said to be of no help in Core Formation, it was still enough to make cultivators burn with envy.
The techniques practiced by others were unlike his own, where one needed only to comprehend a killing talisman to break through; every advancement in realm required immense effort to overcome a bottleneck.
Unfortunate cultivators could easily find themselves trapped at a bottleneck for decades, as had happened to Yu Daiyue.
Reaching the False Core stage early granted ample time to prepare for Core Formation, making such an aid profoundly significant.
Qin Sang had laid his groundwork with a water-element technique, and the methods he had subsequently switched to were non-elemental. He had always relied primarily on water-attributed spiritual power, and he had no need for the Dilu Pill to help him breach bottlenecks.
Consequently, the Blue Dew Epiphyllum was of little use to him.
To cultivators practicing wood-element techniques, however, it was an indispensable prize. Ge Yuan had cultivated a wood-element method, which was why he had been so desperate to obtain it, though he had not lived to enjoy it.
When the right opportunity arose, Qin Sang could trade it for something he truly needed.
Nodding to himself, Qin Sang shifted his gaze away from the Blue Dew Epiphyllum to the other jade box.
The Blood-Dripping Ghost Mushroom was a palm-sized, lingzhi-shaped spirit mushroom. What made it peculiar was its color—a deep, visceral blood-red!
Hyphae crisscrossed the mushroom like swollen blood vessels gorged with blood, plump and taut, as if the gentlest touch would cause fresh blood to spill forth.
These hyphae formed the pattern of a grimacing spectral face on the surface. Combined with its hue, it resembled an evil ghost about to emerge drenched in blood, looking bizarre and sinister.
It was from this that the Blood-Dripping Ghost Mushroom took its name.
Its value ranked highest among the seven spirit herbs, simply because it could be refined and absorbed directly to enhance a cultivator's cultivation base!
Furthermore, when combined with the Heartless Orchid and four other spirit herbs, it could be refined into an elixir called the Blood-Weeping Pill, which could advance the cultivation of even Core Formation cultivators!
However, herbs like the Heartless Orchid were each just as valuable as the Blood-Dripping Ghost Mushroom and equally rare. In the present cultivation world, gathering the complete recipe for the Blood-Weeping Pill was nearly impossible.
Only by encountering a Core Formation cultivator actively preparing to brew the pill could it fetch an exorbitant price.
Qin Sang's best option was simply to refine it directly to advance his cultivation.
According to Yunyouzi's assessment, directly refining the Blood-Dripping Ghost Mushroom would inevitably waste a great deal of its medicinal potency, yielding results somewhat inferior to the Xuanwen Heyun Pill, but it should still save him ten years of bitter cultivation.
Qin Sang gazed at the Blood-Dripping Ghost Mushroom, a contemplative look crossing his face. In the end, he decided not to refine it just yet.
Whether the Xuanwen Heyun Pill could mend his foundation remained unknown. If it proved ineffective, he would have no choice but to convert its medicinal power toward advancing his cultivation.
His cultivation could not simply be raised on a whim; it was constrained by the killing talismans. If he elevated his cultivation with the Blood-Dripping Ghost Mushroom and lacked the time to comprehend the next killing talisman, the potency of the Xuanwen Heyun Pill would be entirely wasted.
The Blood-Dripping Ghost Mushroom could be refined at any time; there was no need to rush.
With a wave of his hand, Qin Sang stowed both spirit herbs. He then retrieved Luo Xingnan's corpse, the Shaoyin Magnetic Bottle, and the Five Elements yin materials, preparing to refine the body into a baleful corpse.
Once refined into a baleful corpse, the remains of a middle Foundation Establishment cultivator would be capable of holding its own against an early Foundation Establishment opponent.
Chapter 309